Dancing With Shadows
by Sorcha of Sevenwaters
Summary: Weiß is having trouble figuring out who they should trust. Reality seems to be disobeying its own rules and the lines drawn in the sand don't want to remain where they are...


Author's Notes: Just a random little Weiß fic...not much to say for now...

Disclaimer: I don't own Weiß Kreuz. This is rated PG 13 for violence and extreme content so don't get pissed if you don't like blood and guts.

Sorcha

Prologue

A Scene of Pleasure and Death

The room was large, a carpeted hall utterly draped in exotic silks and gleaming satin spreads. A maze of cushioned sofas and thick velvet curtains filled the open space between the walls and the door, the brightly colored pillows and elegantly curving woodwork seeming to drift in an eternal cloud of sweet incense. Soft music whispered up through the strips of gauze and lace to sigh through the dimly lit chamber, the melody lingering in the folds of cloth and the shutters of the small lamps that were spaced every six feet along the walls. It was a scene of pleasure, tinged with the faintest hints of fear that seemed to hover about the pale men and women lying in sensuous heaps upon the comfortable curves of their island domains.

They were slaves, mostly. Young unfortunates who had been cursed with pretty faces and lithe young bodies that attracted the most unsavory of characters from the Tokyo Underworld. Once, perhaps, they'd held fragile goals in their blood and bones and their eyes had been bright with thoughts of a future. Now however they merely stared dully at the dancing patterns above their heads, too deadened by time to truly feel the terror or despair that gnawed constantly upon their souls.

Alone among them a young woman watched the entire scene with both disgust and vague interest apparent in her blue-green eyes. She seemed very small lying amidst a whirl of crimson and black, but there was a tilt to her chin and a set to her jaw that suggested she was not all that she seemed. Indeed, if one looked close enough one might see the glittering razor edges of thin metal projectiles peering out from beneath the skimpy skirt and top that she hugged every curve of her body.

But no one was looking very closely.

Suddenly the heavy oaken doors on the far side of the room opened, the ornately carved surfaces sliding away to reveal three cruel-looking men in business suits. All three wore identical expressions and walked with the same stocky indifference as they led a group of clients inside. At the sight of the group an inaudible cry of hopelessness shuddered through the air and the scent of fear became a sharp stench rising up from the bodies waiting to be sold.

"Please gentlemen, take your time." One of the dealers urged his customers. "We have a very wide selection for you to choose from."

Still seated in her place toward the back of the chamber, the cool-gazed young woman gave a faint snort of annoyance and began to toy with the ends of her hair. A ruby earring in her left earlobe gave a faint crackling noise and she cocked her head, listening intently as phantom words slipped into her mind.

"You girl, stand up."

She looked up, slightly surprised, at the man standing over her. After a moment's hesitation she complied, rising in a smooth motion so that she stood before him.

"How old is she?" The customer inquired, leaning in to further examine the young woman.

"Eighteen."

The potential buyer frowned slightly and reached out to pinch the flesh of her buttocks experimentally. Then he patted her sides, her breasts, her arms, inspecting every inch of her body with the scrutiny of someone who knew exactly what he was looking for. The girl endured the embarrassing routine in silence, fixing her eyes determinedly on the shadowed surface of the far wall.

"How much?"

"Six hundred thousand yen."

"Ridiculous. I won't pay anything over one hundred thousand."

Tuning out the rough voices of the men haggling over her price, the young woman focused her attention on the sliding panels of the ceiling. Now and then one would shift ever so slightly, as if someone were putting weight on it from above. When this happened a tiny cloud of dust would puff out of the cracks, too small to be seen in the poor lighting and hazy atmosphere of the auctioning area.

"All right, all right, three hundred thousand. That's my final offer."

"Done."

The young woman bit back the urge to smile then as she pulled one of the deadly metal disks from the waistband of her skirt, cocking her wrist as she prepared for the first throw.

"Come." The man who had purchased her snapped, reaching out to grab her arm. With a nimble twist she pulled out of his reach, dancing to one side and snapping her wrist forward as she released her weapon.

"What the..."

Blood sprayed in a vivid arc across the pale cushions that covered the next couch and its unfortunate occupant. In a single instant everyone in the room froze and turned to stare as the man who had just spent three thousand yen for an evening's entertainment wavered on his feet and fell dead upon the floor.

"Get her!"

One of the other dealers roused enough to point his finger and shout at the killer, but by then it was too late. At that very moment the ceiling tiles exploded in a mass of shattered plaster and a second woman dropped down through the hole, landing daintily on the edge of a sofa.

The room broke out in chaos.

Slaves screamed in terror, falling off their cushions and onto the soft carpet with limbs flailing and mouths gaping wide. The dealers recognized the threat immediately, breaking from whatever sale they had been in the middle of to flee, eyes rolling with fear. Standing amidst a flurry of feathers and silk the two deadly young women shared a brief glance before giving chase, ignoring the wails of the soft creatures around them who scurried out of the way, tears standing out like pearls on their cheeks.

"Fury," One of the women said, speaking into her headset. "You just pulled extraction duty. See if you can get these idiots calmed down enough to realize that they're free."

The reply came crouched in a hiss of static, barely audible but clear enough to be read as an affirmative. Then the two were sprinting through the double doors and down the wide corridor, sharp eyes picking out the moving shadows of their targets even in the heavy gloom. At a certain point the hall branched off in two directions, and without a word the two hunters split up to continue after their prey.

"Valkyrie, have you found your marks yet?" The voice came over the airwaves, speaking directly into the ear of the killer who had dropped from the ceiling.

"Hai." Valkyrie replied, not even out of breath from her exertions. "I'm in pursuit now down Hall B of the sixteenth floor. Any surprises I should know about?"

"Iie. They're too stupid to have traps set anywhere. Where's Siren?"

"Hall A, same floor."

"All right. I'm going to check her progress."

"Ja. Valkyrie out."

Just ahead of her she could see her targets stop dead, realizing that the stairway door at the end of the hall was locked tight. Cursing, they took positions on either side of the lobby area, weapons drawn and aimed at the darkness. Smirking slightly she drew her katana, confident that there wasn't enough light for them to see her until she came fully upon them.

"You see her?" One asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Iie. I don't hear anything either. Do you think we lost her?"

"Afraid not gentlemen." The two men jerked upright, staring in horror as their pursuer stepped out into the dim lighting of the lobby. "I'm not that easy to shake."

She lunged, blade flashing as it cut through flesh and bone and spilled dark blood on the tile floor. One man tried to scream only to choke on his own blood as it filled his throat and trickled from his mouth. Then they both lay still on the ground, eyes wide and staring as their lives slowly drained away.

With a grim smile on her lips the woman known as Valkyrie wiped the blood from her blade and reached up to press a button on her headset.

"Mission complete."

Following the directions drifting into her ear, she made her way toward the stairway. There was a loud click as the security was disabled and she nudged it open, stepping lightly onto the landing. Her partner met her there, tucking used metal disks back into her skirt with the kind of swift efficiency that came with routine.

"Ready to get out of here?"

"Hai."

They took off down the stairs, dancing across the landings and watching as the floors diminished one by one. When they finally hit the ground they turned and went out the back door, ignoring the glaring red sign that warned of alarm bells should the knob be turned. Naturally there was no sound as they exited, only the soft sighing of the wind as they slipped out into the night. Their teammates were waiting for them in the parking lot.

"Did you get those slaves out?"

"Hai. They weren't very grateful though. A few tried to bite me."

"Ah well. We can't always be heroes. Anyone want to get some coffee?"

"Iie, but I could go for a doughnut. I'm famished."

Together they set out for the distant lights of the inner city, following the trails of car exhaust and the smell of cold concrete and steel that came from tall buildings and long, stretching sidewalks. When they came upon the rest of the nocturnal population they blended perfectly, vanishing altogether with the mainstream until they were just four more women out for late-night snacks at their favorite café. Their weapons vanished beneath long coats that were appropriate for the time of year; headsets were stashed in deep pockets that revealed nothing for their streamlined shine. They became perfectly human, perfectly normal. Perfectly invisible.

Just like everyone else.


End file.
